UN calls for basic income for the poor to fight virus
new york — Nearly three billion of the world’s poorest people should receive a temporary basic income to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, a United Nations body says.
As infection numbers spike in developing countries, measures to protect vulnerable populations are “urgently needed”, according to a report released on Wednesday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Funding of $199 billion per month would provide 2.7 billion people with a temporary basic income and the “means to buy food and pay for health and education expenses”, the report said.
The virus has brought havoc to the developing world where millions work in the informal economy with little access to government welfare or other support.
“Unprecedented times call for unprecedented social and economic measures,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.
“Bailouts and recovery plans cannot only focus on big markets and big business. A Temporary Basic Income might enable governments to give people in lockdown a financial lifeline.”
The report suggests three options — top-ups on existing average incomes, lump-sum transfers linked to differences in the median standard of living across a country or uniform lump sum transfers regardless of where someone lives in a country.
The UNDP report suggests that one way countries could pay for a temporary basic income would be repurposing billions of dollars that would have been spent servicing their debt.
The Group of 20 major economies in April agreed on a suspension of debt service payments for the world’s poorest countries until the end of the year. However, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for debt relief to be offered to all developing and middleincome countries.
The G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative has proven challenging to implement, with only 42 of 73 eligible countries expressing interest thus far, saving just $5.3 billion in service payments instead of the $12 billion initially promised.
UN projections have warned the virus could kill 1.67 million people in 30 low-income countries.
The crisis has left tens of millions unemployed around the world and crippled global commerce, prompting the European Union to approve an unprecedented 750 billion euro ($858 billion) aid package for its hardest-hit member states earlier this week. — AFP, Reuters